are in possession of easy and affluent circumstances. At least such was originally the case, and such ought to be the case in the present day. Certain it is, that individuals of all professions, the army not excepted, having bid adieu to the perplexities of business, aspire to the dignity and prerogatives of Justices of the Peace. Thus in Ben Jonson's Every Man in his Humour, Justice Clement is delineated as having been a military man previous to his entering into the commission of the peace. SHAKSPEARE has taken care to describe his Justice of Peace as exhibiting a model of good living, though this is not his usual practice. Shallow in the Merry Wives of Windsor, Silence in the second part of Henry the Fourth, and the Justice in Measure for Measure, are characters of an opposite complexion. Whatever may have been the Bard's motive for thus varying their external condition, the fact is certain—nor can it be deemed unworthy attention.

With eyes severe," is the first characteristic of which the Poet has given this JUSTICE of Peace. This feature may receive illustration from the following beautiful passage in Henry the Fifth—the comparison is taken from the industrious bees :

True-therefore doth Heaven divide
The state of man in divers functions,
Setting Endeavour in continual motion,
To which is fixed, as an aim or butt,
Obedience--for so work the honey bees !
Creatures, that hur a rule in nature, teach

The act of order to a peopled kingdom !
They have a King, and officers of all sorts ;
Where some, like MAGISTRATES, correct at home;
Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad;
Others, like soldiers, armed in their stings
Make boot upon the summer's velvet buds
Which pillage, they with merry march, bring home
To the tent-royal of their EMPEROR !
Who, busied in his majesty, surveys
The singing masons building roofs of gold,
The civil citizens kneading up the honey,
The poor mechanic porters, crowding in
Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate,
The sad-ey'd Justice, with his surly hum,
Delivering o'er to executors pale
The lazy yawning drone !

How well sketched are the several characters in this portraiture-they are executed by the hand a master—amidst the group, the sad-eyed Justice will be recognised with admiration.

As to the Beard, it was customary to dye it with various colours, and to mould it into various forms, according to the profession, age, or fancy of the wearer. Red was one of the most fashionable tints while a beard of “formal cut,” distinguished THE JUSTICE and THE JUDGE. A rough bushy beard marked the clown, and a spade beard, or a stiletto or dagger shaped beard, graced the soldier. “It is observable,” remarks Mr. Malone, “that our author's patron, Henry, Earl of Southampton, who spent much of his time in camps, is drawn with the latter of these beards; and his unfortunate friend,

Lord Essex, is constantly represented with the former.”

The "beard of formal cut," therefore must not pass unnoticed; in conjunction with the "eyes severe," it is a striking trait, and leaves an impression upon the mind. There is in the whole an inimitable propriety.

From the delineation of the person, our Bard proceeds to describe the temper and disposition of his Justice of Peace. “Full of wise saws aud modern instances,” gives us at once an idea of his mode of administering the duties of magistracy.

Thus it is evident that the authority of his decisions was supported by a multitude of old sayings or proverbs; and also by an appeal to the recent determinations of his brother magistrates. Nor is it unlikely that SHAKSPEARE meant to insinuate that his Justice was better qualified thus to deal out his decrees in this peremptory manner, than to proceed by his knowledge and observance of the laws of the land. That such characters existed two hundred years ago, cannot be doubted. Our Poet was a nice observer of nature in all her gradations, and also of the multiplied official characters of the civilized community.

It is impossible to entertain too high a veneration for a wise and upright MAGISTRACY. But truth obliges us to confess that characters have intruded themselves into this hallowed office, every way unfitted for the station. Provisions, as we have seen,

are made by the statutes to prevent any abuse of it. Individuals however of scanty property, and despicable character, have sought and attained the situation. Covetous and corrupt, they have been a by. word aud reproach in all ages. Ignorant of the laws by which every movement should be regulated, they are intent on the gratification of their own idle prejudices, and gross passions. "Full of wise saws, and modern instances,” their practice is equally at variance with justice and liberality. From such a combination of ignorance and folly, nothing good can be expected. So far from attaching respect to their situation, they are viewed with abhorrence. Indeed when Justice is perverted, society sustains an irreparable injury. When magistrates cease to be a terror to evil doers, and a praise to them that do well, they become, instead of a blessing, a curse to the community.

Of these abuses, Thomson indignantly exclaims:

The toils of Law (what dark insidious men
Have cumbrous added to perplex the truth,
And lengthen simple Justice into trade)
How glorious were the day—that saw these broke,
And EVERY Man within the reach of right!

We occasionally observe the detection of corrupt magistrates in the present day, and their exemplary punishment never fails to yield heartfelt satisfaction. A trading Justice is the derision and abhorrence of the British community. Sad indeed would be our lot, when the feculent streams of a corrupt

fountain are suffered to deluge the land. To do justice, as well as to love mercy, and walk humbly with God, is, upon the authority of Inspiration the consummation of human piety. Indeed JusTICE is, throughout all its ramifications, the basis of the Divine government: it is the most august and the most effulgent attribute of Deity. Thou shalt provide (says the Jewish Legislator, Exod. xviii. 21.-xxiii. 6. 8.) out of all the people ABLE MEN, such as fear God,-men of truth, hating covetousness, -and place such over them. Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause; keep thee far from a false matter, and the innocent and righteous slay thou not ; for I will not justify the wicked. And thou shalt take no gift, for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous. Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, aud princes shall rule in judgment.

An extract on the duties of MAGISTRATES, or Justices of the Peace, the steady and persevering discharge of which, renders them, wherever they are found, blessings to the community, shall be here introduced.

“The qualifications indispensably necessary to a Justice of the Peace in the actual discharge of the duties of his office, are-calm attention, and unwearied diligence in investigating the cases brought before him, and perfect integrity in deciding them. BENEVOLENCE also ought to be in fact so powerful a motive of his conduct, as to be subordinate only